Innovating Military Suicide Prevention: Learnings from the Australian Defence SafeSide Project

Abstract

Military suicide remains an urgent global concern, with Service members facing unique stressors including frequent relocations, postings to remote and regional locations where there is a lack of external facilities, reduced social connections, extended family separations, and operational demands that heighten psychological strain. In 2021, the Australian Department of Defence (Defence) partnered with SafeSide Prevention to enhance its Suicide Prevention Program through implementation of evidence-based best practices in suicide prevention. This Community Case Study describes the rationale, implementation, and early outcomes of the Defence SafeSide Project, which aimed to embed a contemporary clinical framework and develop a system-wide approach to modernising policy, practice, and workforce education across the organisation. The partnership implemented the SafeSide Framework for Suicide Prevention, adapting it as the CARE Model (Connect, Assess, Respond, Extend) for Defence contexts. This prevention-oriented approach tailors support to each member's circumstances through collaborative risk formulation rather than stratified risk categorisation. Major achievements included revising health and military personnel policies to remove "low", "medium", and "high" risk classifications, developing role-specific customised trainings, and integrating lived experience perspectives throughout implementation. Between August 2024, when the training roll out commenced, and August 2025, the national Defence workforce completed the following courses: Defence Suicide Awareness annual training (approximately 72,050 completions), CARE-Leaders and Managers (approximately 19,250 completions), CARE-Risk Formulation (approximately 1,010 completions), and CARE-Support (approximately 1600 completions). The project demonstrates how synchronised changes in policy, systems, and training can propel cultural transformation in military suicide prevention. Key lessons learned include the importance of collaborative governance structures, integration of lived experience voices, and addressing challenges in shifting from risk stratification to member-centred safety planning. While implementation is ongoing, preliminary outcomes suggest successful adoption of a prevention-oriented approach that extends suicide prevention beyond mental health settings to become a whole-of-Defence responsibility.